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Free ebook · 14 pages · PDF

Music theory you can play, not just read.

By Marty Schwartz · Blues, rock and beginner guitar

Theory words are shorthand: learn them and every lesson gets easier to follow. Marty's free 14-page ebook gives you the vocabulary, the five chord forms, the pentatonic boxes and the modes as shapes on the neck, then sixteen mode licks in tab to hear them.

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The cover of the Music Theory ebook from GuitarJamz
14 pages · PDFFree, and yours to keep

Take a look inside

Real pages from the ebook.

  • Page 2 of the ebook: theory words with their definitions, from bass note, chord and diminished fifth to key, leading tone and major scale
    Page 2: the vocabulary, from bass note to leading tone
  • Page 6 of the ebook: five fretboard diagrams of the A minor pentatonic boxes, root on E, D, A, A2 and E2, with the roots in orange
    Page 6: the five minor pentatonic boxes, with Marty’s names
  • Page 9 of the ebook: three licks in tab with hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides and bends
    Page 9: Mode Licks 1, lessons 1 to 3, in tab

What you will learn in this free ebook

  • 24 theory words, from bass note to whole step, and the intervals in fretspages 2–3
  • The five basic chord forms, C, A, G, E and D, open and as barre chordspages 4–5
  • The five minor pentatonic boxes, then the same boxes with the blue notepages 6–7
  • Five mode shapes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Mixolydian and Aeolianpage 8
  • Mode Licks 1: eight licks in tabpages 9–11
  • Mode Licks 2: lessons 2 to 8 in tabpages 12–14

Who wrote it

Marty Schwartz

Blues, rock and beginner guitar

One of the best-known guitar teachers on YouTube. Marty teaches more than 30 of our courses: first chords, strumming, blues licks and soloing, with a lot of fun along the way.

The smallest recognized interval in Western music. One fret on a guitar is a half step.
Marty Schwartz · Half step, from the vocabulary on page 2

Questions

Is it really free?

Yes. It costs nothing and there is no card to enter. It is yours to keep: read it on screen, save it or print it.

Do I need to read music?

No. The chord forms, scales and modes are fretboard diagrams, and the licks are in tab.

Is it all words and no playing?

No. The vocabulary is two pages. The rest is shapes to play and licks in tab, and almost every page ends with something to try on the guitar.

Is it for acoustic or electric?

Both. The shapes and the licks work on any guitar.

Free Music Theory ebook

14 pages · PDF. Free, no card, and yours to keep.

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